A buddy of mine just had a fairly small pond dug on his place. I haven't seen it yet to know exactly how big it is but I would guess about 1/2 acre. He was asking about those hybrid bluegill that you can stock with.
Does anyone know anything about them? Do they eat as well as normal bluegill? Do they reproduce? If so, can they reproduce enough to sustain themselves? Any other issues concerning them?
Thanks

I would go with coppernose bluegill

AsleepattheReel,

I've got some first hand experience with them and I'll take a shot at your questions...

Do they eat as well as normal bluegill? Actually probably better in some respects. They have larger mouths than regular BG, the product of the cross w/greensunfish. They tend to eat more small minnows than BG. I've found them to be very aggressive feeders on minnow imitation flies, but not so much on insect type flies.


Do they reproduce? Most definitely, yes. Their reproduction rate is something like 70 to 80 % of regular BG primarily because they are a high % male. In a small pond, no matter if you stock regular BG or hybrid, you must have adequate predators to keep the offspring in check. Otherwise, you may experience stunting because of overpopulating. Some people have told me that the offspring of the hybrid BG are inferior to the parent....even claimed that they would reproduce only as stunted green sunfish (definitely not true, see below). However, predation on them or regular BG is especially important in a small pond to avoid stunted fish.

If so, can they reproduce enough to sustain themselves? Yes, absolutely...but see above. Because they reproduce considerably less than regular BG, they are not suitable for larger ponds in which LMB is the target species....but for small ponds, sustainment isn't a problem.

Any other issues concerning them? There are many, many claims out there on hybrid BG...both proponents and detractors. There is a plethoria of mis-information...especially from folks who have never seen or raised them. It seems everyone fancies themselves as experts. Because of all the mis-information and emotions of some "pond experts", I choose to study them myself in my own pond....to find out myself about these fish. My studies, which are still on-going, are documented on my web site.


Here is my summary(thus far) of the hybrid BG I studied (Georgia Giant):

1) they grow initially at a rate exceeding coppernose BG and regular BG in my ponds. Fish stocked at 4 inchs in Dec. were 7 inches in the following June and 10 inches the fall of the first growing season.

2) their eventual grow-out weights and lengths are still unknown to me...but I have doubts they will exceed the top weights and lengths of coppernose BG....just get there faster.

3) in "controlled" tests in my ponds, the hybrid BG was significantly more aggressive than either coppernose or native BG.

4) I'm not at all convinced that the offspring of hybrid BG are an inferior fish as many "pond experts" have told me. There is absolutely no evidence(yet) of reproducing into stunted green sunfish, absolutely none in my pond. In a statistically insignificant study of 3 Fx offspring, the Fx fish reached 9.5, 9, and 7.5 inches respectively in the same time frame that the F1 parents reached those lengths. It may be that the key to having a successful experience with these fish is to be sure you have lots of predators to keep the offspring numbers in check so that they and the original fish can attain maximum sizes. Overpopulation = stunted fish, whether hybrid or regular.

They are an interesting fish. I hope this info is helpful and would be happy to address any other questions.

CNBG will grow very quickly, especially on feed, and would work very well in a 1/2 acre pond.